GUNTUR: The ruling YSRC is determined to retain Palnadu by winning all the seven constituencies for the second consecutive time in the ensuing Assembly elections. On the other hand, the opposition TDP has intensified efforts to regain its lost glory in Palnadu.After the reorganisation of districts in the State, Palnadu has seven Assembly segments, including Pedakurapadu, Chilakaluripet, Narasaraopet, Sattenapalli, Vinukonda, Gurajala and Macherla, which the YSRC won in the last elections.
In the erstwhile undivided Guntur district, Palnadu is a backward region. Now, it has become a stronghold of the YSRC as it managed to win the vote bank of minorities, who were with the Congress in the past.
As part of its ‘Mission 175’, the YSRC has started highlighting various development projects taken up in Palnadu in the last four-and-a-half years. They include setting up of a government college and hospital in Dachepalli, Autonagar in Chilakaluripet, new area hospital in Narasaraopet, construction of highways and irrigation projects.
Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu and Medical and Health Minister Vidadala Rajini represent Palnadu in the State Cabinet. After the defeat in the 2019 Assembly elections, former minister Prathipati Pulla Rao who contested from Chilakaluripet, has mostly become passive, affecting the poll prospects of the TDP in Palnadu region.The death of former minister and Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasad Rao has created a big void in the TDP as no other leader has been able to fill the gap.
Ambati is facing stiff opposition from the Jana Sena Party in Sattenapalli, which concentrated on Kapu-dominated areas. Meanwhile, in order to turn the Kapu voters to its side, the TDP has appointed former minister Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, who defected from the BJP, as the party incharge of Sattenapalli.
The political heat in Gurajala has reached an all time high as YSRC MLA Kasu Mahesh Reddy and former TDP MLA Yarapathineni Srinivasa Rao are at loggerheads, making charges and countercharges against each other.Kasu, who has a strong political background, has been very active in the YSRC mass outreach campaign, while Yarapathineni has been busy strengthening his cadre.
Macherla is a YSRC bastion as the sitting MLA Pinneli Ramakrishna Reddy’s family has a stronghold on the constituency. In the absence of a strong leader in the constituency, TDP cadre seems to be scattered.
However, Yuva Galam Padayatra of TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, which covered most of Palnadu region, has boosted the morale of TDP cadre. It has to be seen whether the ruling YSRC is able to accomplish ‘Mission 175’ or the opposition TDP will succeed in its efforts to regain the lost glory in Palnadu in the next elections, observed a political analyst.